The Mines and Mineral Board has granted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Far East Resources Company Ltd last month, allowing the company to negotiate with landowners to secure Surface Access Rights (SAR) for mining activities on the tenement in San Jorge, Isabel Province.
Wilson Tohidi, Chairman of the San Jorge Island Resources Owners Association and liaison officer for Far East Resources, confirmed this last week.
Tohidi addressed recent allegations made by some landowners in the media, accusing the company of conducting mining operations rather than prospecting.
He clarified that the company has only been conducting prospecting activities, as authorized under the prospecting license issued by the Mines and Mineral Board, to verify the mineral data in the area.
“This is the same tenement where Axiom Mining previously conducted prospecting to discover mineral deposits,” Tohidi stated.
Far East Resources was granted a Prospecting License (PL) by the Mines and Mineral Board in July last year.
Before Christmas, the Board issued an LOI to the company, authorizing negotiations with landowners to secure SAR.
Tohidi explained that securing the SAR is a prerequisite for the Mines and Mineral Board to issue a Mining Lease to the company.
“The negotiations with the landowners to secure the SAR will continue over the next six months,” he added.
